Search results

Performing a prospective memory task repeatedly changes the nature of the task from episodic to habitual. The goal of the present study was to investigate the neural basis of this transition. In two experiments, we contrasted event-related potentials (ERPs) evoked by correct responses to prospective memory targets in the first, more episodic part of the experiment with those of the second, more habitual part of the experiment. Specifically, we tested whether the early, middle, or late ERP-components, which are thought to reflect cue detection, retrieval of the intention, and post-retrieval processes, respectively, would be changed by routinely performing the prospective memory task. The results showed a differential ERP effect in the middle time window (450–650 ms post-stimulus). Source localization using low resolution brain electroma...

This review examined recent evidence on associations between objectively measured habitual physical activity and adiposity. A search for observational studies was carried out using several electronic databases from June 2004-June 2008. Of 1 255 potentially eligible papers, 47 papers were included, which described 48 studies. Most studies (41/48; 85%) were cross-sectional and 31/48 (65%) used proxies for adiposity, such as body mass index (BMI) or BMI z-score as the outcome measure. Few studies (10%; 5/48) focused on pre-school children. There was consistent evidence of negative associations between objectively measured physical activity and adiposity: significant negative associations were observed in 38/48 (79%) of studies overall. The present review supports the hypothesis that higher levels of habitual physical activity are protecti...

This study reports on the influence of habitual alcohol drinking on
α-amylase activity in individuals yet to manifest any physical or
clinical sign associated with such drinking habit. α-Amylase
activity was determined in saliva and plasma samples from randomly
selected volunteers. Twenty-five male heavy drinkers and equivalent
number of sex, age and weight-matched non-drinkers, all in apparent
good health were enlisted for the study after obtaining their consent.
Mean α-amylase activity in saliva and plasma was significantly
higher (p<0.05) in habitual drinkers (185.0±6.0 IU/L; 113.5
± 4.0 IU/L) than in non-drinking controls (144.0 ± 8.0 IU/L;
72.5±3.5 IU/L). Significant increase in both saliva and plasma
α-amylase activity could be used in the early diagnosis of heavy
alcohol drinking.

Why are some individuals more susceptible to the formation of inflexible habits than others? In the present study, we used diffusion tensor imaging to demonstrate that brain connectivity predicts individual differences in relative goal-directed and habitual behavioral control in humans. Specifically, vulnerability to habitual “slips of action” toward no-longer-rewarding outcomes was predicted by estimated white matter tract strength in the premotor cortex seeded from the posterior putamen (as well as by gray matter density in the posterior putamen as determined with voxel-based morphometry). In contrast, flexible goal-directed action was predicted by estimated tract strength in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex seeded from the caudate. These findings suggest that integrity of dissociable corticostriatal pathways underlies individual d...

Quantitative and qualitative data are examined in an analysis of habitual late payment of trade credit by UK small firms. Multivariate logistic regression is employed to test the influence of variables expected to discriminate between small firms which pay late habitually and those which never or only occasionally pay late. Case studies extend quantitative analysis by validating interpretation of the results and providing explanations for unexpected outcomes. The results provide strong evidence of a financing demand for habitual late payment. There is a positive relationship between habitual late payment and difficulty obtaining bank finance and late payment by debtors and a negative relationship with the use of long term sources of finance. The influence of relationships between customer and supplier is shown to be complex. A concentr...

Existing models of price search presume a direct link between knowledge and search behavior. We argue that these models are not well suited to more habitual, low involvement purchase situations where search behavior and price knowledge are more independent. An alternative, adaptive rationality model is proposed in which these constructs are only indirectly related. An empirical study of Finnish consumers' purchases of fresh produce and meat products is reported which supports the adaptive rationality model.

Habitual patellar dislocations are rare in adults. Treatment is difficult, and often associated with significant morbidity. A 30-year-old man, construction worker, presented a habitual patellofemoral dislocation which was caused by direct trauma to the knee as a child. Clinical examination showed a 3 cm leg-length discrepancy with no rotational deformities. The patient had a limp and loss of function; the patella was dislocated laterally and had locked at 20° of flexion with a range of motion of 0°/0°/30°. Open surgery was performed associating lateral retinacular release, reconstruction of the medial patellofemoral ligament with an ipsilateral gracilis tendon graft. The postoperative course was simple with no complications. Four months after surgery the patient has begun working normally. At the final 50-month clinical follow-up, knee...

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